


being

by KeyKnows



Series: Random Fandom 12!Fest [5]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Luna made me do it, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Spiritual, death mention, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 00:11:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10477713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeyKnows/pseuds/KeyKnows
Summary: It was all about death, Danny noticed.





	

Danny never cared about ghosts. As far as he was concerned, ghosts were his parents’ job and obsession, their passion and life. If anything, they were a nuisance.

Then he turned into one, or something similar to them, and suddenly everything he didn’t know seemed to hang heavily over him.

Because what were ghosts, anyway? He had listened to his parents discuss ghost all his life, have deep conversations about the chemical composition of ectoplasm, about the state of matter a ghost was, about the density of their bodies and a lot more of scientifically gibberish he couldn’t understand. And sometimes he had even heard them talk about them in a more philosophical way, about their possible previous lives, the feelings they obviously have carried after death, if even in just a mirrored form of human emotion.

His father was a buffoon most of the time, a simpleton, but Danny was still surprised at how insightful he could be when talking about ghosts.

It was late at night when Danny decided he wanted some answers. He had been wondering about it for weeks now, but just now, in the quiet of the early hours, he felt motivated enough to do something.

He had discard asking his parents about ghost, he didn’t’ want them thinking he had taking an interest in their work. The idea of haunting ghosts like they did was almost sickly now that he was part spirit.

There was a small study in the house, supposed to be a guest room but in his house there never was any guest that desired to stay that long, so early on his parents make it into a study.

He transformed to be able to go without steps to betray his presence and became invisible in case someone went out in the hallway. He floated quietly through the door of his room and advance to the study, hearing the faint snoring of his father when he passed in front of their door.

The walls of the study were covered in bookshelves, and some books that didn’t fit into them were stacked on the floor, besides the desk. Still floating he browsed quickly the nearest shelve, discovering that there were only books on psychology and human behavior: Jazz’s undoubtedly, probably they didn’t fit her room anymore.

He then eyed curiously the books on the floor. Maybe his sister had been the one to put them there.

Danny sat on the chair and turn on the lamp over the desk. He took the first book on the nearest pile and opened it.

It was, surprisingly enough, a book about old ghost legends from different parts of the world. It was a small, thin book, with equally small and sometimes boring stories. Most of them seemed to be anecdotes, like this guy when to the forest at night and he saw this that may have been a ghost and went home running. They hold little value to him so Danny moved quickly to the next book.

This time, it was about modern ghost apparitions, and it had a little more of meat. It covered supposedly haunted houses, gave a background of them and the tragedy that had birthed the tale of the ghosts in them. It was a patron, Danny noted after reading some, that ghost were born from terrible, underserving deaths.

He took a book for another pile then, and this one seemed to be more about what he had been wondering about: _What are ghost and how to the contact them_ , the title said, a crystal ball on the cover. The reading appeared sensationalist at first, exaggerated and unfounded to appeal to an uneducated audience, but when he started reading Danny felt something akin to discomfort. 

_The belief in the existence of an afterlife, as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures…,_ the book began.

It was all about death here too, right from the start, Danny noticed.

The ghost zone, where he knew for a fact that ghosts inhabited, with houses and places that mirrored his world, look nothing as an “afterlife” of sorts, but he certainly couldn’t tell for sure. Despite his parent’s belief in ghosts, or maybe because of it, his family wasn’t religious at all. He grew up without a real concept of god; what he knew he had learned it on TV, or talking with his friends.

He remembered a catholic child that had been his friend on middle school. They weren’t close, but one time, the boy mentioned something about going to the church service on Sundays. Danny, that had never really entered a church, asked him what it was like, what they did there. _We go there to listen God’s word_ , the boy said, _and to ask forgiveness for our sins, so we can go to heaven_.

It all sounded pretty surreal, back then, like some sort of fairy’s tale. The boy wasn’t especially knowledge on the matter anyway, so he couldn’t explain more and Danny lost interest on the matter quickly, being a kid and having games to play.

Suddenly it all sounded pretty real, and palpable, the idea of a heaven.

[“And what happens if you have too many sins?” Danny wouldn’t remember asking.

“You go to hell. That’s were all the bad people go, and you’re punished for being bad.”

“That sounds scary.”

“That’s why you have to go to church”

And he wouldn’t remember it either, but that day he came home crying and asked his mom in desperate sobs if he was going to hell.]

But the ghost zone was no heaven, no paradise as far as he could tell. Maybe it was hell.

_…in many traditional accounts, ghosts were often thought to be deceased people looking for vengeance (vengeful ghosts), or imprisoned on earth for bad things they did during life. The appearance of a ghost has often been regarded as an omen or portent of death_ …, the book continued.

Danny could believe that, every other ghosted he had met had obviously unfinished business, or was caught in ever longing for that they couldn’t accomplish before. A shiver ran down his spine even though he was still in ghost form; he had never before considered, slowly and deeply, that the ghosts he fought had been alive before. He knew it, of course, because sometime he, Sam and Tucker had to unfold some history to defeat them, but just now he stopped and considered it.

They were alive, once. They were dead, now. And if the others book didn’t lie, if all the old legends were true, all of them had terrible, tragic deaths.

He kept on reading, despite the uneasy feeling on his chest that had been growing since he started reading and that now was almost unbearable.

 … _seeing one's own ghostly double or "fetch" is a related omen of death._ The book said, unforgiving.

He closed the book, a little too forcefully, making a dry sound that lingered in the quite air.

He had seen his ghost self a lot lately. Did that count as an omen, too?

Danny couldn’t tell.

What little he has read tonight didn’t dissipate his inquiries, didn’t answer anything. It has risen questions, actually.

He pondered about it for a long time, sat on the desk and the closed book between his sweaty hands, the light of the lamp casting shadows on his face.

Maybe, he thought, dreadfully, a part of him _was_ dead, how could he be a ghost if it weren’t true.

Danny couldn’t tell.

**Author's Note:**

> this one came out half decent actually, i'm happy with this
> 
> you know, when i was a kid i just thought that this show was cool bc ghosts, but as an adult i wonder wtf bc when you think about the concept of ghosts, well, things can get really fucked up
> 
> also the "book quotes" are straight from wikipedia page about ghosts haha
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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